oil separator symptoms

juppalgae · #1 12-11-2009, 11:50 PM

what are the clues or symptoms when it's about time to replace the oil separators?

juppalgae · #2 12-11-2009, 11:57 PM

guys, i'm about to change my oil separator for a preventive purpose.

pls, tell me what i need to purchase from the attached diagram of the oil separator. cheers

juppalgae · #3 12-14-2009, 11:11 AM

anybody

mrbmwx5 · #4 12-14-2009, 04:57 PM

All of them while you at it and dont foget the valve cover gasket too.

sfcl · #5 12-14-2009, 05:40 PM

Here is what you need exactly for a 3.0I, the realOEM diagram is not totally correct. I got the usual OS (not the insulated one) as I'm living in hot climate.
As said above, you need the valve cover gasket too and also the throttle body gasket. I'd add too the dipstick tube o-rings (one large at the bottom, two small at the top)

Tleong · #6 12-14-2009, 08:00 PM

What are the symptoms?

sfcl · #7 12-14-2009, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tleong

What are the symptoms?

Search in this forum and you will find tons of information about OS. Most common symptoms are rough idle, major oil leak around the OS itself or to the valve cover gasket, codes for misfires and O2 sensors. Most of the OS separator problems occur in very cold climate but can occur too in hot climate with less annoying consequence though.

Tleong · #8 12-14-2009, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfcl

Search in this forum and you will find tons of information about OS. Most common symptoms are rough idle, major oil leak around the OS itself or to the valve cover gasket, codes for misfires and O2 sensors. Most of the OS separator problems occur in very cold climate but can occur too in hot climate with less annoying consequence though.

Would the separator throw out a code? Or would the mechanic need to manually inspect the vehicle?

sfcl · #9 12-14-2009, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tleong

Would the separator throw out a code? Or would the mechanic need to manually inspect the vehicle?

Mine threw out codes for misfires on all cylinders, O2 sensor limits, O2 adaptation limits. I got a small oil leak to the valve cover gasket too and another (bigger) to one of the hoses coming to the OS, however once again I'm driving in hot climate so I didn't experienced some major issues described by some owners living in very cold areas.
Depending of your mileage and how old your X is, replacing the OS is one of the most useful preventive maintenance...

juppalgae · #10 12-14-2009, 08:04 PM

what's the part number for valve cover gasket and throttle cover gasket